The Stunning Demonization of Fiscal Responsibility

-By Frank Salvato

Just when you thought the Progressive Movement could be more deeply invested in denial, now comes the absurd notion that somehow, the TEA Party Movement, whose pinnacle tenet is fiscal responsibility; which has devoutly insisted that the federal government cease the practice of spending beyond the tax revenue it gleans from taxpayers, that somehow it is the TEA Party Movement and their affiliated members of Congress who are responsible for the downgrade in the US credit rating by S&P and not the glad-handing spendthrifts of the big government, nanny state Progressive Movement.

“Bottom up, top down…inside out.”

Shameless partisan, Chicago Progressive operative and former senior advisor to Pres. Barack Obama, David “Say Anything, Lie, Cheat and Steal to Win” Axelrod is quoted as saying, “The fact of the matter is that this is essentially a Tea Party downgrade.”

Continue reading


The Stunning Demonization of Fiscal Responsibility”


Reps. Kinzinger & Rush on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight‏

From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (ILL, 11th)…

On Wednesday night, Congressman Adam Kinzinger joined Carol Marin and Congressman Bobby Rush on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight to discuss current unemployment rates, the debt ceiling vote and the Super Committee.

Excerpt:
Continue reading


Reps. Kinzinger & Rush on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight‏”


My Live Tweets of the August Fox GOP Debate

-By Warner Todd Huston

I usually live Tweet many events like this at my Twitter account: http://twitter.com/#!/warnerthuston. The Fox GOP debate is no exception.

As to the debate, who won and who lost?

I’d say Tim Pawlenty ended his run last night. His bickering with Michele Bachmann rattled him and made him look a bit silly. Tim lost but so did Rick Santorum who kept attacking Ron Paul for some crazy reason. Rick seemed like the queen of rage last night, not Bachmann.

As to Bachmann, she did not damage herself in the room, but a few of the things she said about Pawlenty’s past positions were a bit of a misrepresentation. Still, she could think on her feet and seemed in command of herself whereas Pawlenty was getting mad.
Continue reading


My Live Tweets of the August Fox GOP Debate”


Dan Patlak Cook County Board Of Review Summer Update‏

Our last update was in April, so I thought it wise to provide you another report on our progress and activities at the Board of Review since that time.

On August 1st the Board of Review concluded its 2010 tax year appeals, finishing two months earlier than last year. We did this despite adjudicating the second highest volume of property index numbers (387,000) in Board history. In addition, the Board had two new staffs of analysts, my own and Commissioner Cabonargi’s who were hired after his appointment in February.

I continue to fulfill my campaign pledge to be a full time commissioner, working every day side by side with my personal staff as well as the other staffs at the Board. In line with our plans for instituting a continuing education program at the Board, forty-two analysts attended a two and a half day class on residential assessments August second through fourth conducted by the Illinois Department of Revenue. Several analysts on my staff plan to take additional classes to receive their Certified Illinois Assessing Officer designation.
Continue reading


Dan Patlak Cook County Board Of Review Summer Update‏”


Rick Perry: A Major Squish on Immigration?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Many conservatives across the nation are panting in anticipation of the entry of Texas Governor Rick Perry in the race for the 2012 GOP nomination for president. With his jobs creation record and his undeniable conservative fiscal record, many can’t wait to see this tall Texan join the race. But former Congressman and one-time presidential candidate Tom Tancredo of Colorado begs to differ. He says Perry is no conservative, at least on matters of immigration.

Tancredo penned an op ed at Politico slamming Perry as an amnesty supporter and a major squish on immigration. In truth there is no way to explain away Tancredo’s criticism, either. It’s all pretty undeniable….

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Perry Parries Iowan’s Ire

-By Warner Todd Huston

Texas Governor Rick Perry has made it known that he’s going to announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination for president at the Red State Conference in South Carolina on August 13, the same weekend as the Ames, Iowa straw poll. This didn’t sit well with the Iowa Republican blog. The paper called Perry’s timing a “slap in the face to Iowa Republicans.”

The Iowa GOP uses the well-publicized straw poll as a fundraiser for the party and it is also has a sort of pride of place being one of the early, notable primary time events. So, it is easy to see how the Iowans would be a tad upset that Perry decided to use another state on the same weekend to make his announcement. Iowa Republicans would naturally feel he should have used their own stomping grounds for his announcement…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the union thugs in Wisconsin will certainly try to act as if winning a mere two of the six recall elections of the Republican State Senators in the Cheese State was a big win… but it wasn’t. In fact, this recall nonsense shows that the union issues were a huge failure. After all, they even shied from using the union issues to push the recall efforts after they got going because they were looking like a losing issue.

In fact, the two Republicans that lost their effort to beat the recall were the two that were a bit odd as it is, so beating them doesn’t seem to be such a great triumph. And even at that the margins of defeat were not great. David Fredosso of the Washington Examiner puts it well:

In the end, the union-backed Democrats picked up only two state Senate seats in Wisconsin last night, at a staggering cost in time, effort, and of course money. One of the seats was solidly Democratic, held by a Republican due to an apparent fluke of nature. The other was held by an alleged adulterer who had moved outside his district to live with his young mistress, and whose wife was supporting his recall.

A Pyrrhic victory, there, for sure.

Unions and left-wing Democrat operative told us that the people of Wisconsin were furious at Governor Scott Walker and his GOP partners. We were told that “the people” would swarm to the recall election polls and throw the rascals out. But aside from the two problem children above, none of the elections were even close.
Continue reading


Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts”


Pawlenty Video: Obama’s Empty Podium, Empty Presidency

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tim Pawlenty has a new ad out that hits Obama where it hurts the most: his utterly failed fiscal policies.

Tag Line: “Tim Pawlenty: Executive Experience Matters”

I would support Pawlenty over Obama, for sure. TPaw is right that Obama’s lack of experience makes him the worst of all candidates for the presidency.

It isn’t just Obama’s lack of executive experience, though. Obama has no experience at anything. He had an invisible stint at Harvard. He was a non-entity at the University of Chicago. He never published a thing of note in the legal or business world. He made no dent in the world of “community organizing.” He was a do nothing state senator and a do nothing federal senator. All he’s ever been is “Obama.”

This ad shows him for the feckless, bromide laden, no-account that he is.


Long Live the ‘Boogie’ Man

-By Frank Salvato

There is a lot of talk about our politicians today. Some of what I hear is good but a majority of what I hear is awful, as in we’re pretty upset that our elected class has taken to making excuses for not executing the will of their constituents, abdicating their responsibilities only to position for re-election and bolster their political parties. This happens on both sides of the aisle so, no, this isn’t a hit piece on one party of the other. It is a request that elected members of both parties stop, just for a minute, and examine their motives. Just what is the purpose of government; what are you trying to achieve?

In the wake of all of the rancor that surrounded the debt ceiling debate and subsequent legislation – a piece of legislation only eclipsed in poor quality by the partisan posturing that preceded its enactment – one thing has become quite apparent: the United States federal government has moved completely away from “protecting and serving” the American people and has, instead, become an exercise in societal engineering and transformation.

It is an exercise in societal engineering because increasingly we see elected officials unmasked only to be found zealous ideologues hell-bent on making people believe what they believe. It is almost the exact opposite of what representative government is supposed to be. In a true representative government the elected officials actually represents his or her constituents; he or she stands to express the concerns, fears and intentions of those who he or she represents, thus the moniker “public servant.”

Continue reading


Long Live the ‘Boogie’ Man”


Texan Rick Perry In For 2012 Election (All But Announced)

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like Rick Perry, current Governor of Texas, is in for the hunt for the GOP nomination for president of the United States. At this point, he’s all but had his official announcement and word is that the announcement is to come Saturday.

Below is the first Perry campaign video and it is smartly focused on the incredible jobs record that Texas has amassed under Perry. After all, having created some 73 percent of all the new jobs in the country is a pretty amazing record.

Tag Line: It’s Time for America to Believe in Itself Again, It’s Time for Rick Perry

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Obama’s New CAFE Standards Will Cost Us All More Money

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Obama administration has been touting new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to be imposed on America’s automobile manufacturers saying that it will save all Americans money at the pumps. Unfortunately, there are all sorts of hidden costs of which the administration isn’t noting, costs that will drive up the price of driving in multiple ways for all of us.

The new standards are supposed to raise the miles per gallon requirements from the 2016 mandate of 35.5 mpg to 56 mpg by the year 2025. The administration claims that this would be a big savings and would serve to help get Americans off a reliance on foreign oil.

Curiously, as Obama touts his new CAFE standards as a way to get us off foreign oil, there is no talk at all of increasing domestic oil production which would help do the same thing. But I digress.
Continue reading


Obama’s New CAFE Standards Will Cost Us All More Money”


Truth in Accounting Exposes ‘Unbalanced’ Budgets

From the Institute for Truth in Accounting…

Report Identifies Five Sinkhole States and Five Sunshine States

Chicago, (August 3, 2011) – While Congress debated legislation that includes a federal balanced budget amendment, many pointed out that 49 out of the 50 states have that same legal requirement. However, a new comprehensive study by non-partisan Institute for Truth in Accounting reports most state balanced budget laws have not worked, because past governors and legislators have not used truthful accounting to calculate their budgets. This lack of transparency has concealed a total of $1 trillion of outstanding bills.
Continue reading


Truth in Accounting Exposes ‘Unbalanced’ Budgets”


Joe Walsh’s Interview With Ginni Thomas of The Daily Caller

From the office of Rep. Joe Walsh (Ill., 8th District)…

Leaders with Ginni Thomas: Rep. Joe Walsh

One Republican freshman from Illinois has the audacity to tell the president he lies, to tell Chris Matthews he bullies guests, and to say the Tea Party movement seems bigger than either the Republican or Democratic parties.
Continue reading


Joe Walsh’s Interview With Ginni Thomas of The Daily Caller”


Group Gives $1 Mil Donation to Romney Then Disappears

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s a drive-by donation! A mysterious company formed on March 15, 2011, then donated one million dollars to the Romney for president campaign on April 28, and by June 11th the company filed papers to dissolve. The whole situation has raised many eyebrows about the legality — if not the morality — of the donation.

Various news entities have tried to find out information about W Spann LLC, the company that gave big cash to Romney then disappeared, but info is non-existent. So, what the heck is going on? No one has yet found out…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


Ill. Rep. Tim Johnson Says Redistricting Challenge Useless

-By Warner Todd Huston

Today the bulk of the Illinois GOP delegation to Congress put out a letter decrying the badly gerrymandered recreation of Illinois’ congressional districts. The redistricting mess was denounced by every Illinois Republican Congressman but one.

Recently, a lawsuit has been filed to fight the redistricting that Illinois Democrats pushed through to fruition. The letter from the GOP delegation supported the lawsuit saying, “We look forward to an impartial hearing in court that exposes the fatal flaws in the Democrats’ Illinois congressional redistricting scheme and recognizes the fact that creating fair, compact, and representative congressional districts is not only possible, but necessary.”

One Illinois GOP congressman, though, did not sign onto the letter. That one Republican was Representative Tim Johnson (15th District) of Urbana, Illinois.
Continue reading


Ill. Rep. Tim Johnson Says Redistricting Challenge Useless”


Statement of GOP House Members from Ill. on the Proposed Congressional Map Filed Today in Federal Court

“The Fair Map filed in federal court today proves that it is possible to create congressional districts that respect both constitutional and democratic principles. More importantly, this map stands in stark contrast to the contorted map passed by the Democrats, which is so gerrymandered that it can have no goal but to maximize partisan advantage by disregarding the will of Illinois voters.

“The Fair Map specifically addresses the problems with the Democrats’ map by providing a second district for the state’s growing Latino population, creating district lines that satisfy the tests for compactness, and protecting communities of interest by keeping them wholly within individual districts.

“We look forward to an impartial hearing in court that exposes the fatal flaws in the Democrats’ Illinois congressional redistricting scheme and recognizes the fact that creating fair, compact, and representative congressional districts is not only possible, but necessary.”

Rep. Peter Roskam (Il-6)
Rep. Joe Walsh (Il-8)
Rep. Robert Dold (Il-10)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Il-11)
Rep. Judy Biggert (Il-13)
Rep. Randy Hultgren (Il-14)
Rep. Don Manzullo (Il-16)
Rep. Bobby Schilling (Il-17)
Rep. Aaron Schock (Il-18)
Rep. John Shimkus (Il-19)


Mr. President, Where Are The Jobs?

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) released the following video : “Mr. President, Where are the Jobs?” There have been a lot of nice speeches about jobs. Now it’s time for speeches to stop and actions to begin. The President said it would be the “Recovery Summer” last year, but when you look at entrepreneurship over the last twelve months it’s been the lowest in a decade. It’s time to read the data, stop the speeches, and take action that creates jobs, empowers entrepreneurs and gets this country working again. Now is a time for action, not political posturing.


Tea Party-Haters Attack Chgo Business For Event Countering Obama B-Day Bash

-By Warner Todd Huston

William J. Kelly of Chicago organized an event at a business across the street and about a block down from the venue where President Obama held his birthday bash/fundraiser. Naturally Chicago’s anti-Tea Party set were furious at the business and used threats and intimidation to stop Kelly’s event.

Kelly called the event “Jobs Bash 2011,” and intended to highlight the fact that, while America was losing jobs by the millions, Obama cared more about keeping his own job than he was in helping Americans keep theirs by holding a high dollar donor event in the Windy City only days after signing a bill to put all Americans further in debt.

Of course, we were told during the eight years of the Bush administration that protest was the very essence of patriotism, but since Obama was elected the left has suddenly been all upset at anyone that wants to “speak truth to power.” This was seen by the good folks at Chicago’s Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, one of the city’s best sports for jazz music, when the lefty haters came out of the woodwork to complain that the lounge was to host Mr. Kelly’s event.
Continue reading


Tea Party-Haters Attack Chgo Business For Event Countering Obama B-Day Bash”


Kinzinger Discusses Details of Debt Limit Plan on Hannity‏

From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, Ill 11th District)…

Last night, Congressman Adam Kinzinger joined Sean Hannity on FOX to discuss the details of the debt limit plan, which cuts more than it increases, controls future spending, and does not raises taxes on American families or job creators.

“The President in January said ‘raise the debt limit and no spending cuts.’ [House Republicans] did exactly what we said we’d do – We didn’t raise taxes and we cut more than we raised the debt limit by.
Continue reading


Kinzinger Discusses Details of Debt Limit Plan on Hannity‏”


Based on History, Romney Won’t Win Nomination

-By Warner Todd Huston

Politico has a great piece about Mitt Romney’s second run for the nomination for president of the Republican Party. It analyzes the history of losing candidates that tried four years later to win the second time ’round. Unfortunately for the Mittster, the history argues that he’ll lose this time, too.

Looking at the history of candidates that ran once and lost then tried to win again four years later, Politico found that not one of them succeeded. A few candidates that ran eight years later, though, did win. So, the conclusion is, history would show that Mitt won’t win this time, but could have if he’d waited eight years instead of running again right away four years later…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.


John Bambenek: The Status Quo is Unacceptable‏

From the John Bambenek for State Senate (52nd District)…

It’s been a little over a month on the campaign trail and I’ve been meeting lots of great people in Champaign and Vermilion counties. Everywhere I go, people are concerned about the state’s financial mess and looking for a Republican who will fight for our conservative values in Springfield. A few recent news items shows that the status quo is unacceptable.

  • Governor Quinn recently vetoed a health insurance bill that would have required him to provide fair health insurance options for downstate state employees.
  • Governor Quinn unilaterally ended contracts with Catholic Charities because they referred gay couples looking to adopt to other agencies, even though that arrangement has been in place for years.
  • More businesses have announced they are leaving or are considering doing so, including CME, which you may know as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It’s a said day when the Chicago Merc is thinking about moving its operations out of Chicago.

And the list goes on. Now is the time for bold and committed conservative leadership who will take on the status quo that is driving jobs from our state. From my perspective, I want a state where my children will find the same (or better) opportunities than I have had and today, it looks like that might not be the case. I will fight for our families in Springfield and fight to eliminate the crippling tax burden on our families and small businesses.
Continue reading


John Bambenek: The Status Quo is Unacceptable‏”


How Did The Illinois GOP Delegation Vote on Boehner’s Debt Bill?

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, it was claimed to be the end of the world if Congress didn’t vote on the debt bill. But not every Illinois Republican voted to support GOP leader and House Speaker John Boehner’s bill. Let’s see how the Illinois GOP delegation voted, shall we?

The most vocal opponent of the bill was the 8th District’s Joe Walsh. He said that he could not, in good conscience, vote yes on the bill. Amusingly, he said in a radio interview on WLS that if he saw Speaker Boehner headed his way with the intent to change his mind, he’d turn and run the other way.

To his credit, Walsh did not try and claim that he would stand fast in the face of a direct Boehner appeal, but he did say that he was voting his conscience regardless.
Continue reading


How Did The Illinois GOP Delegation Vote on Boehner’s Debt Bill?”


Kinzinger Statement on the Revised Budget Control Act

From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, Ill. 11th District)…

Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) issued the following statement in support of the revised Budget Control Act. The measure passed the House by a vote of 269 to 161.

“Over the course of seven months, House Republicans have changed the conversation in Washington from where to spend, to where to cut and how much. This legislation reverses the failed trajectory of our country.

“The bipartisan approach forces Washington to maintain a strong focus on cutting spending and includes much of the same framework as the House-passed bill. It cuts more spending than the increase in the debt limit and it does not raise any taxes.
Continue reading


Kinzinger Statement on the Revised Budget Control Act”


Starve The Swarms: or be Devoured by Gov’t Gluttony

-By Daniel Clark

Liberals often justify their disdain for our nation’s founding documents by saying that the men who wrote them could not have foreseen the way things are today. Our founders needed no foresight about bureaucratic tyranny, though, because they experienced it first hand, as illustrated in the Declaration of Independence.

Contained in that document is one indictment of King George that is especially relevant today: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” If rewritten in the first person, this passage could have been used in an Obama campaign ad.

As tumbleweeds continue to bounce across America’s economic landscape, Washington has become a boomtown, thanks to a gusher of new government jobs. According to Labor Department statistics, the federal workforce expanded by 7 percent during President Obama’s first two years in office, while private sector employment declined by 2.6 percent.
Continue reading


Starve The Swarms: or be Devoured by Gov’t Gluttony”


The Debt Ceiling Is Actually Not the Issue

-By Frank Salvato

As we tick-tock toward August 2nd, the day President Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have set as the day the Executive Branch will have to start prioritizing expenditures – establishing what programs are covered exclusively by actual tax revenue and not borrowed money, we approach an artificial deadline for a secondary issue created by a much more systemic national malady. Where the news media and elected officials argue, whine and mislead on the issue of raising the federal debt limit ceiling, the debt ceiling isn’t even close to the issue that all inside the beltway, but for the TEA Party, are refusing to address seriously: overspending.

Many on the Left side of the aisle have been caught rationalizing the need to raise the debt ceiling by noting it has been raised 78 times since 1960 – 49 times under Republican presidents, and 29 times under Democrat presidents, an irrelevant attribution due to the fact that Congress holds the power of the purse, not the Executive Branch. In fact, if one wants to split hairs about which party has presided over the majority of debt ceiling raises, and, consequently, which party has presided over the most deficit spending, it would be more accurate to point out that Democrats, from 1960 to 2010, have held the majorities in the Senate for 36 years and the House for 41 years. Ergo, Democrats and Progressives are far more to blame than Republicans for bringing the nation to the precipice of financial ruin.

Continue reading


The Debt Ceiling Is Actually Not the Issue”


Illinois Budget Deficit: Worst of the Worst

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois ended 2010 as the most indebted state in the union. Sadly, not a thing has been done so far in 2011 to make it better. Instead, it will get worse.

As State House News reports, the state rings in at number 50 in the nation’s most broke states.

Illinois owed $37.9 billion more than all of its assets combined, including cash, investments and property, as of July 1, 2010, according to a recent statewide financial audit by the Illinois Auditor General William Holland and Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

So far and just like the states unpaid vendors, even taxpayers expecting refunds got stiffed because the state somehow forgot to put $1.4 billion in the refund fund for taxpayers that overpaid their taxes. Now those awaiting refunds will have to wait.
Continue reading


Illinois Budget Deficit: Worst of the Worst”


About The New Illinois 8th District

-By Collin Corbett

When Joe Walsh narrowly upset Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean by 290 votes in last year’s 8th Congressional District race, many insiders assumed that he, along with most of the other Illinois GOP freshmen, would be on the chopping block in the looming Democrat gerrymandering process. True to assumptions the new Congressional map, which could be overturned in court but will likely hold up, draws Walsh out of his current district and makes the 8th District an open seat.

To give you a picture of the new 8th District, here are some important figures to consider:

  • Demographics
  • Increased from 8% to 12% Asian
  • Increased from 17% to 27% Hispanic
  • Increased minority voting population 13.92% overall
  • Voting Trends
    • Went 61.5% for Obama in 2008
    • Went 48.1% to 43.6% for Brady in 2010
    • Went 51.1% to 43.3% for Kirk in 2010
    • Went 55.2% to 39.7% for Rutherford in 2010
  • Geography
    • Comprised roughly of 51% Cook, 40% DuPage, 9% Kane
    • Contains roughly 56% of the old 6th, 26% of the old 8th, 5% of the old 10th, and 13% of the old 14th
    • Kane County portion heavily blue, DuPage County portion fairly red, Cook County portion leans slightly red

    At quick glance, the numbers pulled by Brady, Kirk, and Rutherford in 2010 in the new 8th might lead one to believe that a Republican starts with an advantage. However, the combination of a strong Democrat field, a (so far) weak Republican field, a favorable election year for Illinois Democrats with Obama at the top of the ticket, and demographic trends in the district favoring a minority and/or female candidate lead many to believe that this seat currently leans towards a Democrat pickup.
    Continue reading


    About The New Illinois 8th District”


    Rep Dold Calls for Big, Bold Bipartisan Plan‏

    From the office of Rep. Bob Dold (Ill, 10th Dist.)…

    This morning I spoke with Fox News and called for a “big, bold bipartisan plan” to resolve our nation’s debt ceiling crisis. Click here to watch the video, then visit my website to give me your feedback.

    For another look at my desire to craft a solution based on compromise, please read the editorial that appeared in Thursday’s Daily Herald.
    Continue reading


    Rep Dold Calls for Big, Bold Bipartisan Plan‏”


    Kinzinger Opposes Legislation that Fails to Offer Spending Cuts Greater Than Debt Limit Increase

    From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL, 11th Dist.)…

    Legislation authorizes largest debt limit increase in history

    Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 2693, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s debt limit increase plan that fails to offer spending cuts greater than the increase and authorizes the largest debt limit increase in history. The measure failed in the House by a vote of 173-246.

    “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan offers phantom savings, accounting gimmicks and hands a blank check to the President, signed by the taxpayers. It fails to cut more in spending than it increases in the debt ceiling and the deep slashes to our defense, threaten the security of our country.

    “General Martin E. Dempsey, President Obama’s nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also cautioned that these cuts to the military budget would be ‘extraordinarily difficult and very high risk.’

    Continue reading


    Kinzinger Opposes Legislation that Fails to Offer Spending Cuts Greater Than Debt Limit Increase”